slap questions and other noob things.

[just Kesh.]

hello everyone. i have a few noob-ish questions.

first of all. with thumb slapping and such, what part of your arm actualy moves? ive been trying to find an answer all over the internet, and when im talking to my bass playing friends i always forget to ask. do you jsut move your thumb? do you rotate at your wrist? or possilbey even at your elbow? all of these options are possilbe, but im not sure which one is correct, and i dont want to develop a bad habit in my playing.

also, i find my bass particularly difficult to play slap style with. i play a ibanez btb 5 string, and it becoems mopre and more difficult to slap as the strings progress. meaning my b string i can slap effortlessly, e is alright, a is pretty difficult, d is even harder, and g, well, forget it. it can be done, but its really really hard and could never be used in a song. i basicly can only use the b and e strings for slap. its pretty lame. is anyone familiar with ibanez's 5 string btbs? is it me doing soemthign wrong, or is the bass jsut hard to slap?

another question is does anyone incorporate their pinky on their picking hand in their playing? im developing all my fingers strength and dexterity and such, except for the thumb on my frettign hand, and my pinky on my picking hand. do any of you find any use for either your frettign hand thumb or picking hand pinky in your playing?

thank you for your time.

[Charling]

well, to address your first question,l

my forearm twists when I slap. so I twist at the elbow.

if you hold your hand out in front of you, lean your wrist to the left and then the right and watch how the whole forearm twists with it. Thats the motion you want when you slap. Although Ive never used the technique myself some good 'slappers' have said that holding a drumstick accross your hand (above the ring and middle but below the index and pinky, kinda like the typical rock hands pose) and twisting your arm gently about its axis can increase your 'slap muscles'

you dont want to use your fretting hand thumb in playing, far too cumbersome, let it do its job as a means to transport the rest of your hand around from the back of the neck. similar for picking hand pinky. for most jobs you wont even need to use your ring finger let alone pinky.

if you want to get into using the ring finger thats ok, it can be used as part of good technique and you may find it useful (although its not common) but the pinky shouldnt be worried about unless you are adamant you want to make it part of your technique. (I sometimes joke that the only finger I could bear loosing is my right hand pinky, its the only one I never use!)

[just Kesh.]

thanks for the info, really helpful. i guess im slapping correctly. good to know. i listen to a wide array of music, so for certain genres (punk, hardcore, ect.) theyll have the same note played as sixteenth notes and such, which requires some speed. for that i use my pointer, middle, and then ring finger back and fourth. i know the majority of bands like that use picks, but im tryign to completely ween myself of picks. thanks for the info bro.